“We live in the best time, in the best country, in the best city.” Frank McDevitt, 58, says it that simply. He’s sprawled on a wooden chair in a back office at St Mary’s Catholic Church, a church he’s ‘fathered’ in the religious sense for 12 years. Father Frank leaves St Mary’s on June 23,…

When my dear father in law died five years ago, we didn’t know what to do with his scooter. It meant the world of freedom to him and it represented a huge outlay in cash. I see scooters like his sitting on front lawns, ‘For Sale’ signs taped to the steering wheel. And I’m sure…

The I Love Me Club was just the beginning. When 7 year old Mackenzie Oliver questioned her mom about why a classmate felt nobody loved her because she was ‘ugly’, Ingrid Oliver had a discussion about self esteem and beauty and confidence beginning in one’s heart. Mackenzie took it a step further and the I…

Okay, stay with me here. I want you to imagine this. You’re standing in your front yard. Or your back yard. And it’s full, everywhere, of trilliums. White trilliums. Deep red trilliums. Full. You run to Robinson’s Hardware to buy a huge can of concentrate Weed Be Gone. You mix up the concentrate with water,…

When Katherine and Gerry Parent looked at their teenage kids last year, it was a huge wake-up call. Daughter Janelle, son Matthew are finishing high school and heading for post secondary experiences. They’ll both leave in September. Katherine and Gerry decided to tick off one big item on their ‘bucket list.’ They toted up their…

Earth Day. It came and it went, signified by lots of yellow garbage bags at the edges of parks and school yards around the city. Kind souls scooping up waste on the public walking trails. Classes of students and teachers doing roadsides around their schools. Cleanup was everywhere! Our street was littered by a huge…

Craig & Marc Keilburger have touched much of the world with their Me to We campaign, spearheaded by Free the Children, the charitable organization they run. Both Craig and Marc started activities that are changing the world when they were elementary school students. From such modest aspirations grow great achievements! And grades 7 and 8…

Sold out. Sweet music to the ears of Charlene Myke, organizer of this years Dancing With the Stars For Easter Seals. With a financial goal of $55,000 for the evening, a sold out notice is a guarantee that the target will be met. And here’s why it matters, quite simply. Easter Seals chapters like Simcoe…

Automotive journalists wax poetic about cars designed and built for speed. Volumes of words describing design, passion for excellence, formulaic wins, history… it’s all there. Just Google Ferrari and lose yourself for days… No point in repeating all that. However… stacked strategically in his garage in Springwater Township, Paul C Newman pursues his passion and…

It was one of those days. My first husband and I had just returned from a funeral and hung our ‘good’ coats in the back of our respective closets. He headed towards his office, and then stopped in his tracks… ‘my phone!’ he moaned. He does the majority of his business on his iphone. A…